So you are minding your own business, just eating the softest of thinks and OMG a front tooth breaks off at the gum line! What a negative impact something like that has on one’s appearance! Was it that old root canal tooth you were told needed a crown, hidden decay (subject matter for our next post), or did you have a silly accident? Regardless, now you have a problem and while it may seem insurmountable, many times like the one shown here there is at least a simple and economical short term solution that will allow you to regain your normal appearance, return to near regular function and give you time to formulate and and carry out a more long term solution.

In this particular situation, this was a tooth that had root canal therapy done years earlier and never received a crown as part of it’s complete treatment. Why a crown…well when a tooth requires a root canal, it is most often due to decay that has reached the soft tissue portion of the tooth (the pulp or commonly called the “nerve”). The root canal therapy removes the compromised soft tissue only in the center of the tooth, disinfects that area and then that void is filled with an inert filling material. This leaves the root structure intact, as well as the part of the tooth that is in one’s mouth. This tooth structure is saved, but the part in our mouth no longer has a source of nutrition and over time becomes brittle. The solution is to place rebuild the tooth with a post/build-up and crown.

So here the tooth fractured leaving a small amount above the gum line. That proved enough for me to work with to create a temporary functional and esthetic solution. As you can see by looking at the before and after photos, the results are amazing. This patient can return to her very public position and not miss a step. Now this patient has a small window of time to consider her options for a long term solution and it can be planned around her schedule, so as to not compromise her personal and professional needs. Please note, that in dealing with these types of emergencies, each solution depends on what the condition the tooth is in, the patient’s individual needs and the anticipated final solution. We are all human and accidents happen, we can procrastinate and we have a monkey wrench thrown into the mix. Remedies are often easier than you think! You won’t know, if you don’t come in for a visit!